


I've Been Afraid of Changing

by drpinkky



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Alternate Universe - Professors, F/F, theres like. more characters but theyre hardly ther
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 05:16:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17053853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drpinkky/pseuds/drpinkky
Summary: something something professor au something something jacquelyn and josephine something something give it a try





	I've Been Afraid of Changing

Most days, Jacquelyn left the university by five. As soon as her office hours finished, she packed her things and all but sprinted off campus. Not that she didn’t enjoy her work, but she had her limits. And a poorly-planned department meeting featuring Dean Feint pushed those limits. Only half of the English department could even show up, as the rest had classes right at that time. 

Jacquelyn spent the unproductive meeting next to Gustav, quietly correcting the dean as he spoke. After a particularly egregious misuse of “lay,” Jacquelyn had to fake an important call and duck out of the room to keep her cool. Rather than return, though, Jacquelyn slipped into her office to gather her things. 

She stopped though, when she heard “Beethoven’s Fourth Quartet” quietly from the hall. The possibility of Nero approaching to chew her out for leaving the meeting flickered faintly in Jacquelyn’s mind until she realized how nicely the violins played. With the dean’s approach ruled out, Jacquelyn stepped into the hall to investigate. The music came from Josephine Anwhistle’s office, across the hall. 

When Josephine didn’t answer Jacquelyn’s knock, she tried the handle. The door opened to reveal Josephine, at her desk with her head in hands, shoulders shaking slightly. 

Jacquelyn cleared her throat. Josephine startled and scrambled to pause the music. 

“Y’know, y’ain’t gonna get anything done like that.” The long-unused drawl felt awkward on her tongue, but as she kept going the words flowed more easily. “How long’ve you been listening to this for?”

Josephine fixed Jacquelyn with a glare. “You know. You are not. Going to. Get anything done like that. For how long have you been listening to that. Never end a sentence with a preposition.” She sighed and wiped her eyes. “But you already know that. I’m sorry, I must look ridiculous right now. It was Ike’s song.” 

Jacquelyn glanced to the framed picture of Josephine and Ike on their wedding day on Josephine’s desk. “It’s only been a year. I couldn’t listen to a lot of Fleetwood Mac after my daddy died. It’s been four years and I only just recently made it trough Landslide without crying.” She wanted to pat Josephine on the shoulder, do something to comfort her, more than just a “there, there,” but she was at a loss. 

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” Josephine asked. “What gets to you after the loss of a loved one?”

Jacquelyn nodded. Neither spoke for a moment. 

“It’s hard,” Jacquelyn said, “but it helps to spend time with others.”

“Is that why you came by?”

Jacquelyn nodded. “I was thinking of going out for a drink tonight, maybe you’d like to join?” That was a lie. Jacquelyn hadn’t considered going out tonight at all, especially because it was still a school night. In all honesty, the perfect way to unwind after a horrible meeting like that was curled up in bed with a book and a cat, but in her own words, it helps to spend time with others. “I wouldn’t mind driving.”

Josephine glanced back to the picture of her and Ike, then nodded. “That sounds nice. Would you pick me up at eight thirty?”

“Yes. Text me your address.”

* * *

 

Jacquelyn arrived at Josephine’s house five minutes before the agreed upon time. She took the spare moments to quiet the small voice in her head calling this a “date.” No, she was just treating a colleague to a nice night after a rough day. Just because she had redone her makeup and hair, and put on an outfit she reserved for dates (even though her dance card had been empty for months), and left the house five minutes before she needed to in order to make sure she wasn’t late, did not mean this was a date. 

When the clock showed half past the hour, Jacquelyn stepped out of her car and walked up to Josephine’s front door. She answered after the first knock. Rather than the muted blouse and sweater she wore in the day, Josephine had on a yellow dress which made her shine. She smiled brightly and stepped out of her house. 

“Thank you for this, Jacquelyn,” she said as she locked her front door. 

“Anytime,”

Jacquelyn walked just a step ahead of Josephine so she could hold the car door open as she got in. Nothing wrong with a little chivalry, after all. She closed the door after Josephine was situated, then circled around the car and got in. 

The ride was silent aside from Jacquelyn’s music, right up until “Landslide” came out of the shuffle. Jacquelyn would have skipped it, had Josephine not sung along to it quietly. 

“I suppose that’s not the best song to start the night,” Jacquelyn said once it finished. Josephine nodded, but at least she was smiling. 

“Do you have tissues?”

“Glove box,” 

Josephine blotted her eyes and they settled back into a comfortable quiet, which lasted until they arrived at their destination.

“The Spyglass?” Josephine asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. Jacquelyn felt her stomach drop. _How is taking her to a lesbian bar supposed to help while she’s grieving her husband?_

“I wasn’t thinking. We could go somewhere else-”

Josephine stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Jacquelyn, I didn’t mean anything by it, other than I haven’t thought about this place for years. Georgina and I used to celebrate the end of exam weeks here.”

“Orwell?” 

Josephine nodded with an expectant look on her face. It did not take long for the pieces to fall into place. 

“You… and Georgina?” 

“You learn something new every day, don’t you?” Josephine asked with a twinkle in her eye. She opened the car door and stepped out. Jacquelyn scrambled to follow her. _Maybe this might be a date_ , she conceded to the voice in her head. _But not a date-date._

The place was mercifully empty, due to their early arrival. The two chose a table against a wall, out of the way of the eventual rush should they stay long enough. Once Josephine was settled, Jacquelyn went up to the bar to order an old-fashioned for herself, a gin and tonic per Josephine’s request, and a bowl of mozzarella sticks to share. The drinks lasted much longer than the cheese. They chatted idly about classes, about books, about hobbies. When Jacquelyn mentioned fencing, Josephine’s eyes lit up.

“You’ll have to show me your skills sometime,” she said. “There’s space for it in the gym, right?”

Jacquelyn nodded. The prospect of having a new sparring partner, of having Josephine as a sparring partner, sent electricity up her spine. 

They continued talking until Jacquelyn finished her drink. She rose to order a water for each of them. More students filtered into the bar since Jacquelyn last looked. Jacquelyn carefully avoided the gaze of those she recognized, namely Isadora Quagmire from her poetry workshop, seated at a table off to the side along with two other girls. Isadora most definitely saw her, though, and as Jacquelyn returned to the table, she resigned herself to some awkwardness in the coming days.

“Do you know any of the Quagmires?” Jacquelyn asked as she set the glasses on the table.

“Duncan was in one of my Creative Nonfiction classes last semester, why?”

“Don’t look now, but his sister is at a table behind me.”

Josephine waited to look until Jacquelyn took her seat. She glanced that way as she sipped her water.

“Mmm. Should we head out?” She asked. Jacquelyn shook her head.

“I’d need to finish my water first. That’s going to take a while.”

Josephine nodded. “That’s probably wise.”

Their conversation died after they realized students were around, much to Jacquelyn’s disappointment. She was tempted to knock back the rest of her water and sweep Josephine out to the car, but better to take time before driving. Josephine at least looked like she was enjoying herself. 

A song Jacquelyn didn’t recognize came on, and Josephine swayed along to it. 

“In another situation, I’d ask you to dance,” Jacquelyn said out loud. Josephine raised an eyebrow. 

“Why don’t you?”

Jacquelyn, not one to back down from a challenge, stood and offered her hand. She led Josephine to the side of the bar devoid of furniture, already occupied by a few other couples of women swaying softly. The music would pick up as the night wore on and the average age of the patrons decreased. For now, though, it was still calm. Jacquelyn, unsure of what Josephine wanted of her, followed her lead. They ended up with a bit of space between them, but not the degree of separation enforced at high school dances. Josephine laughed as Jacquelyn spun her. Even with Jacquelyn’s doubts about it, what with their students able to see, she could not deny it was fun. They kept at it for a few more songs, then agreed it was time to leave. 

Just as before, Jacquelyn opened the car door for Josephine. She stepped in and buckled up. 

“Thank you,” Josephine said as Jacquelyn started the car. “This was really nice.” 

“I’m glad,” Jacquelyn said, unsure of what else she could say. The ride back to Josephine’s house was more talkative, but as Jacquelyn pulled onto Josephine’s street, the conversation petered off. 

Jacquelyn walked Josephine back to her front door. Josephine unlocked her door, then stopped. She turned around and pulled Jacquelyn into a tight hug. 

“Thank you so much, Jacquelyn. Tonight means a lot.” 

Jacquelyn rubbed Josephine’s back. “That’s what I’m here for.”

Josephine let Jacquelyn go, then stepped into her house. 

When Jacquelyn got home, she drank a bottle of water and settled into bed. Her cat curled up next to her, purring loudly. 

The way her heart fluttered when she thought about their time together had Jacquelyn make another concession.

_Maybe it was a date-date._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Title from fleetwood mac's landslide  
> im on tumblr at lesbianscieszka and drpinkky  
> im on twitter at drpinkky
> 
> can you believe two joke posts turned into this?


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